jrouault

jrouault

Well Known Member
Patron
I am about to register my aircraft and was wondering if I can register it as owned under a family trust. If I can, how exactly do I do this? Does the bill of sale need to show the trust name? What needs to be included on the Aircraft registration application?

Thanks,

Jason
 
Why?

Yes, but why? If it's for estate planning purposes, get an estate planning lawyer involved. If the idea is to limit liability, it probably won't work.

If you're doing it, the trustee needs to be the purchaser, and the trust will need a tax ID number.
 
Why??

As others have said, yes but why?

If you register it to the family trust and anything happens it seems it would be a direct link to sue the trust. The whole idea of a trust is to protect your assets for your heirs.

Also as others have said, you should consult a trust attorney.

Ted
 
Hey Jason,

You should look into a FLP....Family Limited Partnership offered by the state of Nevada....You dont have to live here to own one, they are free from the state if you fill out the forms yourself and record them yourself. As others have said....do not put your plane or other dangerous assets in your trust or FLP, rather hold them seperatly along with their insurances away from everything else. When done correctly no one will get anything more than insurance money if you have a problem. I use Nevada Registrations here in Las Vegas and have for years....Very Happy!...Why?.....Because no FLP has ever been pierced in the state of Nevada....including 3 attempts on mine......That outta get the lawyers bantering:p........do some research and dont follow anyones advice blindly including this post:)

Robb.....7A
 
The reason for putting it in a trust is to protect the asset for my heirs. I do not see it as being any different then putting your house, your car, or any other high value asset in the trust. The purpose is avoid costly probate proceedings.
 
Check with a Colorado lawyer

Don't know Colorado law, but, in Texas, a self-settled revocable trust won't do you much good for asset protection. Even an irrevocable trust may not work, and it may have some significant gift tax implications. Get a Colorado lawyer to help you fashion it to be as effective as possible. There may be a way to do it, but you may not like what you hear.
 
How about an LLC?

I was thinking about having an LLC own my plane upon completion. Mike, any thoughts on that?
 
Your estate attorney can help...

jrouault said:
The reason for putting it in a trust is to protect the asset for my heirs. I do not see it as being any different then putting your house, your car, or any other high value asset in the trust. The purpose is avoid costly probate proceedings.
Click to expand...

You may be able to avoid those proceedings by having a clear Directive for the dispossition of the property. My will includes those Directives which establishes two of my trusted neighbors and friends to sell my airplanes of which the proceeds go into my Trust. They are given a stipent to cover advertising, pre-buy inspections, and storage costs until the aircraft are sold.
If you set up your Will correctly, your Will and Trust will not have to go through costly rework. A Directive can be changed at anytime without lawyer involvement, notary and legal witness, or other encumburences. The directive governs the dissposition of all of my "liquid" and "semi-liquid" (cars, motorcylces, airplanes, etc...). The Directive is held in the possession of my estates personal representative (my sister). She is named in my Will as my representative and is charged with carrying out the Directive (of which I also have arranged to pay her for those efforts out of my estate.)
Of course, this was set up under the laws of Washington State and might be different in other areas.
 
As a side note...

There is nothing "dangerous" from a liability stand point of owning the aircraft. It can be owned by anybody, a corporation, a trust, whatever. The liability falls directly on the aircraft manufacturer.
I am not a lawyer, but I did stay at Holiday Inn last night~
 
LLC

Bushcaddy said:
I was thinking about having an LLC own my plane upon completion. Mike, any thoughts on that?
Click to expand...

Take a look at this thread: http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=38995

There are lots of reasons to have a trust, an LLC or other entity, and some of them are very good reasons. For instance, if you are in a partnership to own an airplane, it can be a very good idea to make it into an LLC. Escaping potential liability as a builder is a lot harder, to the point that it is often a waste of time and money. Also, in some states it's a good idea to set something up to try to avoid probate, and in other states (like Texas) probate is simple and easy. It depends on where you are.
 
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